Is there a cross-language TDD solution?

Question

I want to write a simple colour management framework in C#, Java and AS3. I only want to write the unit tests once though, rather than recreating the unit tests in JUnit, FlexUnit and say NUnit.

I have in mind the idea of say an xml file that defines manipulations of "instance" and assertions based on the state of "instance" via setup, teardown and a set tests. Then to have a utility that can convert that XML into xUnit code, for an arbitrary number of xUnits. Before I start wasting time developing such a solution though, I want to make sure no similar solution already exists.

Answer 1

I think you are overcomplicating things... you might consider a scripting language that you can use against all 3. I know Ruby could be used to test Java via JRuby, and C# via IronRuby, but I don't know about AS3.

I have never needed to do this myself, but I imagine a dynamic language like Ruby could really let you do it without a lot of extra work.

Answer 2

As a side note, you could also try writing a compiler of sorts, much like FogCreek's (in)famous Wasabi language, then you could write both your code and tests in that language, and have the compiler do your work.... this of course would probably be overcomplicated, but I think it would be a lot better than attempting to define an XML test language... and potentially a lot more readable.

Answer 3

Would FIT/ Fitnesse be suitable for what you want?

FIT is an acceptance test framework rather than unit test framework, but from what you describe you would want to ensure that the three implementations have the same behavior rather than identical designs.

FIT has links to several languages

Answer 4

You could also check out Fitnesse with Slim, as Slim should be a lot more lightweight to implement for new languages (AS3). I guess it's more about acceptance/integration testing than unit testing, but it could be worth looking into.